given him: he then looked suspiciously around, as
if he expected to be stabbed while drinking. "Fear nothing," said Omar;
"your life is safe till you have drunk the water." The crafty Persian
flung the cup to the ground, and Omar felt that he had been outwitted,
but that he must keep his word. Hormuzan became an Arab pensionary, and
shortly afterwards embraced Islamism. His territories were occupied by
the Moslems, whose dominions were thereby extended from the Kuran to the
Tab river.

The Arab conquests on the side of Persia had hitherto been effected
and maintained by the presiding genius of one of the ablest of the
Mohammedan commanders, the victor of Kadi-siyeh, Sa'ad Ibn Abi Wakas.
From Kufa, where he built himself a magnificent palace, which Omar
however caused to be destroyed, this great general and skilful
administrator directed the movements of armies, arranged the divisions
of provinces, apportioned the sums to be paid to the revenue, dealt
out justice, and generally superintended affairs throughout the entire
region conquered by the Arabs to the east of the desert. A man in such
a position necessarily made himself enemies; and complaints were
frequently carried to Omar of his lieutenant's pride, luxury, and
injustice. What foundation there may have been for these charges is
uncertain; but it seems that Omar was persuaded, towards the close of
A.D. 640, or very early in A.D. 641, that they were of sufficient weight
to make it necessary that they should be investigated. He accordingly
recalled Sa'ad from his government to Medina, and replaced him at Kufa
by Ammar Ibn Yaser.

The news of this change was carried to Isdigerd at Rei, and caused him
to conceive hopes of recovering his lost territory. The event shows that
he attributed too much to the personal ability of his great antagonist;
but the mistake was not unnatural; and it was a noble impulse which
led him to seize the first promising occasion, in order to renew the
struggle and make a last desperate effort to save his empire and repulse
the barbarous nomads. The facts are not as the Arabian historians
represent them. There was no intention on the part of the Mohammedans to
be content with the conquests which they made, or to remain within the
boundary line of the mountains that separate the Mesopotaraian region
from the high plateau of Iran. Mohammedanism had an insatiable ambition,
and was certain to spread itself in all directions until its forces
we